Friday, July 01, 2005

Pistons Depth Chart for Next Year

With Joe Dumars and Tom Wilson absolutely giddy about the Pistons’ three draft picks, it’s safe to say that the future of the Pistons will go beyond a seven man rotation like we saw in the playoffs. I’m not a math expert but I’m having a hard time understanding how everyone who is supposed to be on the team next year fits on a 12 man roster. Here’s a look at the probable roster 1-13.

So, let’s break this thing down to see what makes sense for next year’s rotation. We all know that Billups, Big Ben, ‘Sheed, Prince, Rip, and Dyess are all in the rotation. There will need to be someone who spells Chauncey. Lindsey did that this season but I expect his minutes to drop until the playoffs. This leaves Carlos Arroyo as the only true PG to take the minutes. We know that Joe Dumars will demand that Darko gets more playing time since Dumars has been the one taking the heat for passing on Carmelo Anthony and D. Wade. Joe-D still believes that Darko was the right pick and wants Darko to prove him right. The Pistons brass openly acknowledged that they need a legitimate scorer off the bench to help eliminate some of the mind-numbing offensive droughts. Regardless of whether it’s Michael Finley, Allan Houston (NO!), or Jalen Rose, this spot will require minutes as well.

Since the Pistons rarely go 9 deep, that means Lindsey Hunter, Carlos Delfino and Jason Maxiell will be completely out of the rotation. Delfino will have limited time at best and despite the Detroit News’ contention that Amir Johnson and Alex Acker could both make the team, there just isn’t enough room to go around. I suppose depth is a good problem but some people are not going to be happy with their minutes next year.

I’ve heard people in the media suggest that Darko’s increased playing time next season will cost Antonio McDyess minutes. I disagree. I think Darko will get some of Rasheed’s minutes as ‘sheed sits on the bench in perpetual foul trouble. There is no team in the NBA that has more minutes available to spell their starting PF than the Pistons. There are plenty of minutes to go around with Darko in the frontcourt rotation.